On the South Side of Chicago in 1974, a woman called Linda Taylor reported a fake burglary, concocting a lie about stolen furs and jewellery. The police soon discovered she was a welfare cheat who drove a Cadillac to collect illegally claimed government cheques. And that was just the beginning: Taylor, it turned out, was also a kidnapper, and possibly a murderer. But nobody - not the journalists who touted her story, not the police, and not presidential candidate Ronald Reagan - seemed to care about anything but her welfare thievery.

Part social history, part true-crime investigation, Josh Levin's mesmerizing book, the product of six years of reporting and research, is a fascinating account of American racism, and an exposé of the "welfare queen" myth, one that fuelled political debates that reverberate to this day.

The Queen tells, for the first time, the fascinating story of what was done to Linda Taylor, what she did to others, and what was done in her name.